While Deputies Chased Wessels, Wife Called 911

Ben Dunsmoor reports:

Sioux Falls, SD

The Chancellor man who led authorities on a multi-state pursuit Friday appeared in court with his wife on Monday.

Tyson Wessels, 34, and 30-year-old Kelly Wessels were arrested Friday after they tried to steal an ATM from a Valley Springs convenience store and then led authorities on a chase that lasted more than four hours.

The attempted ATM burglary happened just before 5:00 a.m. Friday, but the pursuit and arrest of both Tyson and Kelly Wessels was anything but routine.

After ramming stolen vehicles into a witness's vehicle and two sheriff's deputies in South Dakota and Iowa, Tyson Wessels is now charged with three counts of aggravated assault, burglary and grand theft.

Kelly Wessels is charged with possession of burglary tools for having pry bars, snipping tools and screwdrivers.

At the same time sheriff's deputies and state troopers surrounded Tyson Wessels on the ground and in the air in the rural cornfields of Lincoln County on Friday, his wife was calling 911 saying she was lost in a cornfield in Minnehaha County and needed help.

"We do believe there is a link between both Kelly Wessels and Tyson Wessels regarding the Pumphouse burglary in Valley Springs and possibly other burglaries in the area," Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office Captain Paul Niedringhaus said.

Authorities say the two parted ways when a Minnehaha County Sheriff's Deputy caught up with them on the tri-state corner a few hours after the burglary Friday morning. Officials believe Mrs. Wessels was in an SUV next to her husband, who was in a stolen Midwestern Mechanical truck when he rammed into the deputy and took off. Authorities pursued Tyson into Iowa and Kelly drove back into Minnehaha County.

As crews started closing in on Tyson in Lincoln County later that morning, they say Kelly was caught up in another cornfield and calling 911 for help. When they found Kelly in the field, they started asking questions.

"She did have a misdemeanor warrant for her arrest, which she was detained and brought to the Law Enforcement Center and interviewed regarding her involvement in this," Niedringhaus said.

Tyson Wessels does have two previous convictions for burglary in Minnesota and three drug convictions in South Dakota, and now the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office is investigating if the couple is involved in any other cases.

"Typically when you see somebody to this level, what they're doing, this is not the first time that they've started this. So, we'll be looking at any unsolved burglaries in Minnehaha County, Sioux Falls and adjacent counties because typically that's what we see quite often," Niedringhaus said.

investigators found two-way radios with small earpieces in both Kelly and Tyson Wessels' vehicles on Friday.

Kelly is being held on a $5,000 bond; Tyson is being held on a $200,000 bond.